Shorn of the details, the factual background is

as follows : -

The secret information received by an officer

of Narcotic Control Bureau (for short referred to as

8NCB9) on 17.12.2020 led to seizing a parcel

bearing No. CC089254397NL at Foreign Post office,

Chamarajpet, Bengaluru. The parcel contained

610 grams of MDMA pills. On 18.12.2020, the NCB

received another secret credible information that

an African national namely Ramla Shedafa Nancy,

i.e., accused No.1 would be going to Sahakarnagar

Post Office to enquire about the parcel bearing No.

CC089254397NL, and based on this information,

the NCB officer intercepted her first and then she

:: 3 ::

showed another African namely Emmanuel Michael

i.e., accused No.2 who was waiting outside the

post office at Sahakarnagar. Thus both were

brought to NCB office. They revealed that the

parcel was addressed to accused No.1 though the

telephone number mentioned on the parcel cover

was that of accused No.2. An FIR came to be

registered in Crime No. NCB FNo.48/1/20/2020.

They

confessed

their

crime

when

they

were

interrogated and then they were arrested and

produced before the Special Court on 19.12.2020.

During investigation they also revealed that they

had

booked

another

parcel

bearing

No.

EG22836800ET for receiving cocaine and based on

this information another team of NCB officers

seized the parcel on 21.12.2020 containing 235

grams of powder which was said to be cocaine.

When the house of accused No.2 was searched, the

NCB officers seized one SBI Classic Visa Card

bearing No.4591 6700 1041 7738 which was in the

:: 4 ::

name of Mugwani Esther Amosi. When the details

of the transaction made through this card were

obtained from the bank, the NCB officers noticed

many suspicious credit transactions having taken

place

in

between

the

period

17.8.2017

and

26.10.2019 and those transactions were found to

be made by the petitioner herein. Thus the

petitioner was summoned, interrogated and taken

to custody. He was arrayed as accused No. 3 in

the above said FIR. After completion of the

investigation, the NCB filed charge sheet which

was registered in the court of XXXIII Additional

City Civil and Sessions and Special Judge under

NDPS

Act,

as

Special

Case

768/2021

for

prosecuting the accused in relation to offences

punishable under sections 8(c), 21, 27 and 27A of

the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances

Act, 1985 (for short hereinafter referred to as 8the

NDPS Act9). The petitioner has sought a writ of

certiorari for quashing the proceeding against him.

:: 5 ::

2. I have heard the arguments of Sri

Hashmath Pasha, learned senior counsel for the

petitioner and Sri Madhukar Deshpande, learned

standing counsel for the respondent.

3. Sri Hashmath Pasha put forward certain

factual aspects. He submitted that the petitioner

who has been arrayed as accused No.3 in the

charge sheet was born in an affluent family and

had his education throughout in abroad. After

returning to India, he joined his family company

namely M/s Krishi Technology Private Limited. His

mother Sunita Gupta resigned from Directorship of

the company to accommodate the petitioner to

become a Director. In January 2015, he became

the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

of the company. In the course of company9s

business, he came in contact with one Mr.Joseph

who became his friend. One day Joseph took the

petitioner to a bar at Indiranagar in Bengaluru and

:: 6 ::

introduced to him an African national by name

Emmanuel who gave the petitioner a little quantity

of

some

substance

for

consumption.

The

petitioner consumed it and noticing a different

kind of effect on his body and mind, he started

taking it and ultimately became its addict. He did

not disclose it to anybody in his family probably

because of fear or shy. He was buying the

substance from Emmanuel. In the beginning

Emanuel

used

to

sell

the

substance

to

the

petitioner for a lesser price and as he came to

know that the petitioner had become addic